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Building on their two-year partnership, Twilio (TWLO), the leading cloud communications platform and T-Mobile (TMUS) announced that Twilio has created a new developer platform for the T-Mobile Narrowband IoT, NB-IoT,network today at SIGNAL, Twilio's customer and developer conference. Twilio Narrowband is the first developer platform for NB-IoT in the U.S., a cellular low-power wide-area network technology, which will substantially reduce prices and increase battery life for intermittent low-bandwidth connections. Twilio also announced the Twilio Breakout Software Development Kit to help developers start taking advantage of the optimizations offered by NB-IoT networks. NB-IoT was designed for the majority of IoT devices that don't need a lot of bandwidth. With NB-IoT, devices can consume a fraction of the battery power they do with previous cellular M2M devices, enabling connectivity at a fraction of the cost. NB-IoT is built for smaller data packets, such as timestamps, GPS coordinates and status updates for a variety of industries, from smart metering to health device monitoring. With the power and cost efficiencies generated by NB-IoT, the market is ripe to open for new categories of lower cost, battery efficient internet-connected devices that don't exist today. T-Mobile is the first to deploy a NB-IoT network in the U.S., which launched nationwide in July. "Together with Twilio, the Un-carrier is unleashing developers and building an entirely new ecosystem for IoT solutions. I can't wait to see what awesomeness they create!" said John Legere, chief executive officer of T-Mobile. "Once again, T-Mobile is at the forefront of innovation, enabling a world where anything and everything can be connected. The possibilities are endless!"

Baird analyst William Power noted Twilio (TWLO) announced the acquisition of email company SendGrid (SEND). He views the transaction as a strong strategic fit and he is positive on the long-term opportunity. He said the recent market weakness and the afterhours selloff following the acquisition announcement is a buying opportunity. Power maintains an $82 price target and Outperform rating on Twilio shares, which are down about 5% to $72.50 in pre-market trading.

10/16/18

FANA

10/16/18DOWNGRADEFANAOutperform

SendGrid downgraded to Outperform from Strong Buy at First Analysis

First Analysis analyst David Gearhart downgraded SendGrid (SEND) to Outperform following the announcement that Twilio (TWLO) is acquiring the company. The analyst thinks combining Twilio and SendGrid, with their respective leadership positions in text and email communication, is a "logical move." Investors are best served holding SendGrid shares through the anticipated first half of 2019 exchange, Gearhart tells investors in a research note.

10/16/18

STFL

10/16/18DOWNGRADESTFLHold

SendGrid downgraded to Hold from Buy at Stifel

Stifel analyst Tom Roderick downgraded SendGrid (SEND) to Hold from Buy following the announcement of the company's agreement to be acquired by Twilio (TWLO), suggesting investors take profits on the 19% premium and reassess the combined entity in the coming months. The analyst said the strategic rationale "makes all the sense in the world," as he views this as a way for Twilio to acquire its way into email, as opposed to building organically. Roderick also views this deal as the latest case of "let's take one expensive piece of currency and acquire another expensive piece of currency," he tells investors.

10/16/18

PIPR

10/16/18NO CHANGETarget $85PIPROverweight

Twilio should be bought on SendGrid deal pullback, says Piper Jaffray

Piper Jaffray analyst Alex Zukin says Twilio's (TWLO) acquisition of SendGrid (SEND) "makes a tremendous amount of sense." The combination creates a complete product portfolio targeting developers, with the potential for meaningful revenue synergies over time, Zukin tells investors in a research note. The analyst recommends buying Twilio on the post-deal selloff and reiterates an Overweight rating on the name with an $85 price target.

TMUST-Mobile

$69.18

0.05 (0.07%)

09/27/18

GUGG

09/27/18NO CHANGETarget $85GUGGBuy

T-Mobile price target raised to $85 from $80 at Guggenheim

Guggenheim analyst Mike McCormack raised his price target for T-Mobile to $85 from $80 as he believes it remains well positioned for growth with both a valuation and merger overlay. The analyst believes consensus expectations remain too low for subscriber growth, and expects another strong performance in Q3. In the longer-term, McCormack also thinks the cash and earnings generation power of the fastest growing carrier is underappreciated. He reiterates a Buy rating on the shares.

09/25/18

OPCO

09/25/18NO CHANGETarget $24OPCOOutperform

CenturyLink CFO departure raises concerns, says Oppenheimer

Oppenheimer analyst Timothy Horan notes CenturyLink (CTL) has announced that CFO Sunit Patel will depart as of September 28th to join T-Mobile (TMUS) to lead the Sprint (S)/T-Mobile merger and integration efforts. The analyst expects weakness in CenturyLink's stock, as investors will likely be concerned with synergy realization after Patel's departure. While Horan says his departure is disappointing, he believes CenturyLink has a deep management bench, and Jeff Storey, CEO, will continue to be the driving force behind restructuring and expense reductions at the company. He reiterates an Outperform rating and $24 price target on the shares.

09/20/18

OPCO

09/20/18NO CHANGEOPCOOutperform

T-Mobile, AT&T 'top large-cap picks' in telecom, says Oppenheimer

Oppenehimer analyst Timothy Horan previewed the telecom outlook for 2H18, telling investors in a research note that he believes the communications sector has bottomed relative to the market and expects to see stronger 2H performance. Horan says T-Mobile (TMUS) and AT&T (T) are his top large-cap picks, and Boingo Wireless (WIFI) and Zayo Group (ZAYO) will also benefit as carriers invest in their networks in preparation for 5G. Horan also expects T-Mobile to outperform as it continues to take share and see margin improvement.

09/13/18

RILY

09/13/18INITIATIONTarget $46RILYBuy

Shenandoah initiated with a Buy at B. Riley FBR

B. Riley FBR analyst Zack Silver started Shenandoah Telecommunications (SHEN) with a Buy rating and $46 price target. The analyst sees the company benefiting from the merger between Sprint (S) and T-Mobile (TMUS).